Memories linger
Memories lapse
What was it I did
What was it you said
Anyone's guess
Is as good of a guess
Weren't we once friends
Or just acquaintances

We see different angles
In what we believe
I once listened to you
You once listened to me
In search of the truth
Is how it used to be
Now all we do
Is fume as we scream

Who is the child
And who's the adult
Bombarded with lies
On every front
Isn't it time
We all stood up in want
Of the goodness that's due
In what once was the norm

Love with all your heart
Love with all your being
Those that you agree with
Even those you don't
Love hits the mark
In its own believing
From the heart, it departs
In the way it loves

Never wrong in its dealings
The answer to all questions
Love reaches out
Pulls ******* the heartstrings
When hate raises doubt
Love fills the void
Love is the hope
That most of us long for

Love is the sound
That is forever freeing
Love in abundance
There is no stopping now
When love is around
Holding to its meaning
Love is never missing
Where love is always found

death is ******* the living
as so many times
when death comes a-knocking
death leaves someone behind
to do all the grieving
in an unmade bed
death in life is deceiving
to those who are left

death never quits
as death keeps tugging the cord
taking all it can with it
all that you can afford
death is not for the living
though you'd never know
nor is death forgiving
when it's your time to go

death is good at surprises
in perfecting the boo
too late you realize that
death scared the mess out of you
with no one to turn to
with no way to compare
what you just went through
when death grabs you by the short hairs
and takes you outta here

He said, she said
But who do you believe
All depends on which side you're on
To who you claim guilty

The proof is in the pudding
But the flavor is hard to find
In this he said, she said
On the left and right

With this righteous claim of guilty
Before we hear the facts
I ask you quite honestly
What is the sense in that

Where is our sense of decency
I once heard someone say
Out of all the parts that we could keep
That's the one we gave away

If we open up this pandora's box
On what we hope to find
More often than not as an afterthought
Will come back to us and bite

Without a moral compass
Directions are all askew
With he said, she said
We may never know the truth

Some people hate what others say
Some come awake, scared and afraid
Some people run far from the truth
Some people hate what others do

Some people do not see themselves
As the problem and not the help
Some people live their entire lives
Believing in their own sordid lies

Some people scrape the barrel low
Some people don't open it up at all
Some people are out of their heads
Other people have never left

Some people come with their A-game
Some people don't know what to think
Some people set up for the fall
Some people aren't set up at all

Some people are in line at the front
Some people seem to fill needs and wants
Some people see what's going on
Then again some people don't

Some people are only here for themselves
With no second thought of anyone else
Whether or not you see this as truth
This is just what some people do

every day I catch sun rays

and put them in my pocket

take them home

place them in my drawer

shut it tight then lock it

all the rays I save for gloomy days

then give them all away

for every day I hope to make

a bright and sunny day

The day starts off bitter and dark
Splattered and splotched with watermarks
From tears of us forced to watch
Battle cause against battle cause
Shoulders flaked in hatreds frost
Rolling rocks collect no moss
Foes and friends this war has cost
Who could have thunk who would have thought

A world like this would take top billing

A time like this would come of age
Raising fists in fits of rage
Here's the pauper where's the sage
Keeping truth locked in a cage
Same old look different name
Nothing's changed it's all the same
Unknown ghosts make us afraid
Set the date cut the cake

A world like this is quite revealing

Unless you find you like the lies
Being spewed out on all sides
From the upper left to the lower right
As we feed the hand that bites
It's a case of do or die
Whatever it takes to win the fight
Sign of the times I  me mine
Raise your hand and close your eyes

In this world of truth concealing

They're keeping score behind closed doors
Where they have mine and they have yours
Where the disease thinks it's the cure
And only peace can come through war
If that's not enough there's more in store
Times are rotten to the core
Days like these are hard to ignore
Once we've opened Pandora's door

A world like this is hard in its dealings

A world like this is primed for stealing

A world like this has lost all meaning

A world like this is in it's keeping

A world like this...

this company is heading straight to the top
with our new improved line of fairy farts
soon our catch phrase will be all over the place
a slight touch of magic in a jar

first and foremost a disclaimer though
in the making of farts not one fairy was harmed
we house and feed, take care of their every need
so there's no need for alarm

once we discovered how the ***** could be used
down here on fairy farm
we've had all our men chase after them
capturing bottom barks into a jar

then by hand we transfer them
from pint up to gallon size
to be used all the way from laundry detergent
to a line of makeup that's soft on the eyes

we even have samples of candles
bath and body works just bought the whole lot
plus it runs machines cheaper than gasoline
so far the highest bid is from Exon

we're also in talks of a contract
with a highly secretive govern(mental) agency
who wants all the gas with no questions asked
but on that we'll have to wait and see

in the mean time our workers continue to bottle it up
all the fairy farts from all the fairy butts
it's a job that flatuates deep to the heart
but with this job what's not to love

as you watch the fairies flutter to and fro
hearing the cute little ***** wherever they go
who would have guessed who could have known
how much a business like this would grow

This morning
I went to the kitchen
Opened the pantry
Found my elephant missing
Along with my favorite coffee mug
And my Better Homes and Gardens subscription
At first of course
I thought of the worst
Elephantnapped
Is what came to mind
And me right here
Playing into my fears
That's the end
Of that friend of mine
But then I thought of the refrigerator
Where I know he goes to cool down and relax
And that's where he was
Between the yogurt and mustard
Lounge chair, second shelf in the back
With magazine and coffee mug in hand

Where to begin, let's start at 10
And move on without a care
Where this will go, lord only knows
But soon enough I'm sure we'll get there

Well slap the knees here come the 20's
Taking this adulting thing on the run
For too long now most have found out
Being a child ain't all that much fun

Pretty as you please we squeeze into the 30's
Slipping and sliding, fire up the engines
Getting close to the middle drooling in spittle
Here comes 40, goodbye middle age kissing

Did someone say 50 half of a century
Playing blind, deaf, and dumb
It's anyone's guess what's next in this quest
Best hold on tight cause here it comes

Welcome to the 60's
Where you can't remember half you've done
And if you think that's nifty hold tight then silly
Wait till the 70's come along

Where they'll rip and they'll roar you at best underscore you
Having you chewing your gums
Straight into the 80's where this may sound crazy
But you're just one breath away from being done

I could keep going on till we're all skin and bones
Ready to give up the fight
Moving along till you go out on your own
In this...the speed of life

They tossed the golden ring I never caught
Whether or not it was my own fault
Right here, right now is where I'm at
As life gets set for another lap

I can clearly see what's in front of me
Being this close to the dead end street
Miles ago I'd hoped for a cul-de-sac
But imagine that, there ain't no turning back

I'm tired of what these times have done to me
Bent so long you knew I'd break eventually
Which makes me even tireder still
The bend and break of a man's beaten will

At what point did I lose my belief
That the grasp I had would help me to succeed
Did I let go at the last bump in the road
With so many potholes we may never know

It's hard to see through the crack in the windshield
These bitter days what is fake and what is real
As the crack continues widening in its gap
Until the day there won't be any protection left

I'm tired of the same old grind from day to day
And the optimistic crowd that says it'll be okay
I'm tired of this as much as I'm tired of that
Tired of the life that fits all of these facts

You say I'm just feeling sorry for myself
But if I didn't I wonder then who else
Seems I'm stuck inside this all alone
This house I've built that'll never be a home

Which brings me back to the golden ring
Where all I've ever been is a working machine
Taking my fingers down to the bone
Which makes any grasp that much harder to hold

I'm tired of the ups that only let me down
The promise of much that's never ever found
Any fool can see where I'm clearly at
And those that don't well I'm even tired of that

When you stop to think, would death be better than life... Then you know you're tired

have you seen
me as i fly
off the ground
but only 3 feet high

at that altitude
it's hard to impress
when fields of grass
tickle my chest

keeping eyes out
for one thing or another
being slapped in the face
by all the ground clutter

with super hero's
it's hard to compete
when you're off the ground
at only 3 feet

but i still find
that fighting crime
at ground level
suits me fine

because seriously
it's hard to fly in the sky
when you find yourself
afraid of heights

I took a chance
And took a swing
At this thing called life
And its meaning
I've struck out
Many times before
But always I
Come back for more
As the hour
Is growing late
I refuse
To give up the game
If knocked down
I'm up again
And won't succumb
Until the end
And then when
The end does come
I won't even
Know I'm gone
Through the swing
In the chance
Life's meaning
Inside the dance

Tom Thumb got caught peeping
Now his life is on the run
Little Bo Peep lost her sheep
On a gambling junket she was on

Little Miss Muffet is having to tuff it
Out these days in jail
Selling ecstasy to undercover police
And now can't pay her bail

Little Jack Horner took him a corner
Of the Mafia drug trade
Once you are hooked on the **** that he cooks
There's no way of escape

You think that's bad you ain't seen nothing yet
That even comes this close
Since  Mother Goose started hitting the juice
And ended up down on skid row

Humpty Dumpty's more than broke
But not from any fall
He couldn't pay his ******
And his legs were first to go

Baa Baa Black Sheep  
Where forced to sell their wool
To pay for all the damages
While they were in school

Jack pushed Jill down the hill
When he caught her cheating with Little Boy Blue
Now he's paying her doctor bills
Which has left Jack blue too

You think that's bad you ain't seen nothing yet
That even comes this close
Since Mother Goose started hitting the juice
And ended up down on skid

You often hear the growling
But it's still hard to tell
From exactly where it's coming
In this hungry town

There's a mumur in the suburbs
A far cry in the getto
I've seen the likes and they don't lie
Hunger pangs are hard to let go

Some are hungry for a change
Some are hungry for their habits
One to save, one to break
Both have got to have it

There is no use in hiding
No sense in the denying
You can tone it down but it's still around
The sound of babies crying

There's a hunger out for power
A hunger to hang on
You can fertilizer a flower
Doesn't mean that it will grow

There's a hunger that stands in wonder
The day it's fully grown
Down on every corner
In this hungry town

Being a girl *****! :(
I'm one big ball of emotion
Being tossed back and forth
On the waves of this female ocean

Just when I say I'm doing okay
Another tsunami comes along
Washing away the sanity I saved
Swept out to sea, it's gone

Being a girl *****! :(
All the makeup that we wear
Who are we trying to impress anyways
And do those jerks out there really care

All they do is treat me like a piece of meat
With desert on the side
Would you like some tears with that
It doesn't take much these days to make me cry

Being a girl *****! :(
With some of the things we have to wear
This over the shoulder boulder holder
Wasn't built for comfort that's for sure

And is it already that time of month again
I've about had it with these cramps
If I hear another man explain my mood to me
I swear I'm going to reach up and pull his tongue out through his...

Being a girl *****! :(
But one thing that I can say
It sure as heck beats being a man
Where stupidity always gets in the way

Just an elevator man
If he had a name he never said
Among few words were what floor
Pushing buttons, sliding doors

It wasn't like he wasn't the pleasent type
Everyone enjoyed the ride
Had a way with a smile
Could make a junkyard dog give up his growl

The years all pass in a dying breath
Steals your soul, don't give it back
With the old joke that we all know
Life has its ups and downs he often told

As he started to wear they bought him a chair
Just within reach of the buttons there
Some days though he'd be asleep
Happens more and more quite frequently

That's why no one knew that he'd been dead
A month of Sundays the coriner said
He'd passed away they believe
Somewhere between floor 1 and floor 19

The tenets now help themselves out
Thinking of the one that never said much out loud
Just an elevator man
If he had a name, he never said

When asked what color I am
I say I bleed red
Or if asked what race
I kindly say human

The outside color doesn't matter
It's the inside that counts
I find nothing sadder
Than someone who hasn't figured that out

Will you stand with me
In the fact that all men are free
No matter the color that's put on each other
Religion or creed

Because last time I checked
We all bleed red
And the race that we're running
here's a little something
We're all human

You catch them hanging out
Pretty much on the edge
Of the cranium
Where they like to lay their eggs

They keep you remembering
All that you should know
If you need to have a name
They go by the mindful

Once the eggs have hatched
You'll be mindful of this and that
Keeping you on your guard
Of what should be done and said

Into your brain they will burn
All in life we need to learn
Keeping an eye on those around
Is mostly the mindful's concern

They take it to task amongst themselves
To be mindful of everyone else
For after all isn't that
What a mindful life is all about

So don't be scared, don't be afraid
When you feel an itching of the brain
It's just the mindful laying ground
Soon enough to be paved

Making sure the road ahead's
Not too bumpy or too rough
As you're on your way to what
You should be mindful of

I once had a glockenspiel
One I wish that I had still
Nothing to me is more real
Than the sound of a glockenspiel

I would take it to the streets
Where crowds would gather around me
Tapping toes and keeping beat
To the sounds of oh so sweet
I never charged a listening fee
Bringing pleasure to them and me
One thing we all lack yet need
In this world of Make-Believe
For a moment all too brief
At this point in history
There was comfort bathed in peace
Before I had to take my leave

I once had a glockenspiel
One I wish that I had still
Nothing to me is more real
Than the sound of a glockenspiel

I started a wave

Right where I was at

Out in the open

I raised up my hands

Over my head

Then I let them fall

Someone down the street

Well they saw it all

So they in turn

Raised their hands up

As fast as they did

They let them both drop

A chain reaction

Took over from there

Spreading out quickly

Just like a wild fire

It went from city to city

Then state to state

Soon country to country

In one gigantic wave

It circled the globe

Then came back to me

I saw it approach

As it came down the street

Today with the wave

I made a world of new friends

So much so I raised my hands

And sent it again

She is just an arsonist
Setting hearts on fire
Strike a match to her latest catch
Ash deep in desire

She is just an arsonist
Fanning hot the flames
Adding twigs in the shape of men
Burning each of them

She is just an arsonist
Destruction in her wake
Trial by fire burns hotter
If you're caught up in her blaze

I have this watch that I wear
Doesn't tick but tells me where
To spend the time that I have best
With what little I have left

Shows me at times where there are needs
Time to share and not to keep
Which has me frequently check the time
Where I always find the time is right

The alarm dings every now and then
More now than then I must admit
There's never been a better time
To have a watch like this that's mine

She stands dancing
While he writes in poem
Giving him rhythm
To follow along
This they do daily
From daylight to dawn
As rhythm and writing
Continues to flow

Like a conductor
The head of his pen
He needs her as much
As she needs him
Bringing to question
The answers they have within
Rhythm and writing
All on a whim

She watches his thinking
Her watches her sway
From the very beginning
From the very first day
Both of them have taken
Only to give away
Rhythm and writing
In the music that they make

i look at life through the small end of the telescope


where problems seem so far away
then i can take time in dealing
with the issues i'm dealing today

i look at life through the small end of the telescope

so what ever life wants to hurl
is not big enough to bother me
when what's in front of me is the smallest of worlds


i look at life through the small end of the telescope

Have you ever had a thought
That you've thought about a lot

That bounces around inside your mind
Takes its own sweet savory time

Gets tossed off by a breeze
Like a dust storm from a sneeze

When the thought you had begin
Is blown off by the wind

Then pops back into your brain
At some unknown later date

But before it can stagnate
It plans another great escape

Waiting for that breeze
Or at least another sneeze

Where it once again
Is blown off by the wind

Hello Mom, I'm lost here in IKEA
It's been fun but I may never see you again
They say the arrows point the way
but they've been pointing the way for days
Swedish Meatballs, the only saving grace there is

In the linen section, I've been circling for hours
Waiting for landing instructions from the tower
As big as this place there has to be a runway
In a fog, quickly running  out of power

At a later date, I finally make my way
At the seventh gate, I see Dante wave
As he's pouring over plans assembling a pair of white nightstands
I'll come back and check on him in a few days

In housewares, there are too many cooks in the kitchen
I look around and see something here is missing
The main ingredient, food...still waiting for those meatballs dude
In that special sauce that does more for a man than just glisten

I should have known the way the front door ****** me in
I'd never see my family and friends again
As I wander through the halls of prefab furniture at low cost
My days of sanity are quickly drawing to an end
And even with IKEA's plans, I'll never be put back together again

Down along the coast of my soul
As beaten and battered as it is
I feel I have little control
And it won't be long till there's nothing left

As the pounding waves of humanity
Slowly wash it away piece by piece
Pulling sanity's sand from my shore
Depositing it into the deep

Down along the coast of my soul
How much more can one person give
Treading water out of control
Until I feel there's nothing left

He is just a poet
Too many years now to count
Occupies time by setting to rhyme
All the words his pen pours out

Seems there's a never ending stream
Of words that freely flow
From the end of his pen into this poet's hand
That never once will let him go

Blowing with ease this poetic breeze
Seldom seen but often felt
This man that's just a poet
Too many years now to count

why do they call it a sneeze
when it's clearly achoo
or call you a nut
when you have a loose *****
they say do not speak
unless spoken to
i sometimes don't
but most often do

why does a mosquito buzz
when it comes in for a bite
why does light always rhyme
with the darkness of night
if they've had enough
they say go fly a kite
why is the cut off for cats
stop at nine lives

why if the world spins so fast
we don't all fly off
why does the doctor go there
then asks you to cough
why does your age mostly show
to those but not you
why is the grass green
why is the sky blue

are the sun and the moon
the best of good friends
do they stay up late nights
after we've long gone to bed
and who's in charge of the sugar plums
that dance in my head
that have gone to my hips
that are making me fat

just a few things
i ponder in life
the over and under
the may and just might
the good and the bad
the wrong and the write
the wondrous blunders
as I plunder through life

Slipping and sliding
Back into the past
Foolishly buying
All the foolishness they've said

Stacking me against you
Pitting you against me
Does it hurt to stretch the truth
If the lie is so easy

Keeping us under lock and key
Mental Slavery

Under their thumbs
We're being kept
Simple pawns
In their game of chess

We take them at their word
This herd of talking heads
As we rely on every line
That we're being fed

Keeping us under lock and key
Mental Slavery

With the slightest of resistance
We feel we should fight back
But at our own insistence
It's ambition that we lack

So we follow along the path
Eyes closed to reality
Turning us against each other
Makes it hard to see

Keeping us under lock and key
Mental Slavery

the day that he was born
held tightly to the cord
pulled himself back in
had heard about the world

said i'm not sure i'm ready
for this crazy social scene
i'll just stay here holding steady
till something better comes to me

evidently here it's very clear
inside the warmth of the womb
is a safer place for restful days
than this world of ****** tunes

Out of all the colors of the spectrum
Used to brighten up your day
Wishing you would have kept them
As the blues come out to play

With life, they dive in deep
Taking yellows, mixing greens
Spin the wheel whichever way
The blues will never fade

Out of all the colors of the spectrum
Every high and every low
The brightest ones, you wish you'd kept them
As they're the ones you miss the most

How many times have you lost count
With the ups and downs, the ins and outs
Which makes you even more afraid
The blues will never fade

Out of all the colors of the spectrum
One or two will simplify your life
Make it easier if you let them
But you must spin the wheel to find

Afraid to swirl the colors
Adding one into another
If you don't who is to blame
The blues will never fade

i want what you have got
because you have what i have not
and as an afterthought
you also want what i have got

never are we satisfied
with what we're given in this life
when all we think of all the time
is i want your's and you want mine

you want what i have got
because i have what you have not
and as an afterthought
i also want what you have got

No one knows what she really looks like
Without all her makeup on
Once she applied the first coat of beautify
She never once thought of taking it off

She just continually adds to the layers
Off the color wheel from which she gleens
Comes in an array of colors
From the 70's through the new millennium

Even her own mother would not recognize her
If she ever decided to come clean
A la natural in spite of it all
This Maybelline beauty queen

She never fell into a little dab will do ya
But far less than any glob fest
She lets her fingers do the walking as her makeup does the talking
Never once giving her face a rest

Never could guess how old she is
As she expertly fills in the lines
Every crevis and crack from forehead to neck
A little heavy-handed at times
Till even she doesn't know what she looks like

Okay...

I've just finished another masterpiece
I go and hit submit
This shouldn't take very long now
Before the comments come rushing in

Okay...

It's been a couple minutes now
And I haven't gotten one
Is there anybody awake at this time
Can't they see what it is I've done

1) Do you think that they still like me?

2) Do they even know I'm here?!

3) Did I post my poem at the right time?!!

4) Did I make the writing clear?!!!

5) Could the site be on the blink?!!!!

6) Are the worlds computers down?!!!!!

7) Did I miss the second coming?!!!!!!

8) Is there anyone around?!!!!!!!!

         ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!  

Okay...

I'll check it once again
Is this the third or thirtieth time
My mind can not comprehend it
Are all these people blind

Okay...

Now I'm on the check it 30 second cycle
It's a crazy loop I'm spinning in
Pretty sure I wouldn't be here though
If someone would please comment

I ain't much on schooling
To get my lessons learned
When it comes to education
I get mine from working dirt

It's taught me everything I know
Every straight line every curve I ***
From heaven's gates to down below
Mixed with highs, stired with lows

From all that life has thrown at me
Here catch, it's your turn
No matter dry or muddy
I can tell you now that dirt don't hurt

It's taught me everything I know
Every straight line every curve I ***
From heaven's gates to down below
Mixed with highs, stired with lows

An outdoor education
Teaches true and strong life's course
Only way you can explain it
Is by out there working dirt

As I step through the door
Of my office - Doughnuts Galore
Mildred from behind the counter nods her head at me

I come here every day for a few
Jelly doughnuts and nasty brew
Looking for the perfect job that keeps eluding me

I again pick up the daily rag
Scouring the classified ads
Hoping to find something interesting I see

My bladder lets lose
At the greatest of news
In Black and White Bold Type face do I read

Wanted lead guitarist in
An up and coming Air Rock Band
Mildred comes and picks me up off the floor

I went and applied for the job
And with a wink and a nod
They said your exactly what we're looking for

We practice day and night
Hitting all the notes right
Till our Air Rock Band was ready for tour

The crowds we all wowed
As we brought down every house
In venues we played up and down the Eastern shore

From top forty pop
To industrial techno rock
There wasn't a song we couldn't toast

We even threw a few polkas in
Sounding sweeter than sin
Cause Brian the drummer likes polka the most

We finally hit the big time
When we went nation wide
The Greatest Air Rock Band the worlds ever known

But as fast as we went to the top
That's just as fast as we dropped
Dead air was all you heard from us on the radio

I'm afraid to tell myself you left me
Afraid what will happen when I do
That I'll fall apart starting with my heart
When I finally tell myself the truth

That I never treated you the way I should
And through all this I'm the one to blame
Holding off as long as I can knowing I'm bound to break down
When what I fear I hear me say

We both know I've not been the strong one
Me always the one in need
Not sure what I will do when I finally blurt out the truth
Afraid to tell myself that you've left me

Cherish the time
Set it to memory
Burn it into your soul
For it soon will be gone
As these sands of time
Pour out so quickly
Faster than we know
Leaving a hole
We're all waiting in line
With father times keeping
Life's ladder folds
At its choice of footholds
Cherish the time
Celebrate it freely
Ready, set, go
We're all going home

The answer is Love

To every question
Between a mother and child
To every suggestion
Brought on by a grandparents smile

The answer is Love

In the proposal
Asking for a life partners hand
To the young couple
Building castles in the sand

The answer is Love

In the open
Where there's nothing to hide
In the heart that is hoping
It'll all work out in time

The answer is Love

When a father
Disciplines a child
When a husband or wife
Go the extra mile

The answer is Love

When tears
In a passing are wept
In the years
Where a promise is kept

The answer is Love

Not out of duty
But a pleasure whenever it's done
In the beauty
That comes from a simple hug

The answer is Love

All of this just so happened
With the saying of one simple phrase
"Beam me up Scotty"
Was all The Captain had said

But all that came aboard
Was Captain Kirk's toupee
Never did they see James again
After that fateful day

Now Captain Kirk's toupee
Is the one that's running the ship
Barking out its orders
From where the Captain once sat

It's little wonder the toupee and the crew
Don't see eye to eye
As it continues throughout its screaming
Can't you see I need more warp drive

With Scotty hollering back
I'm giving her all that's she's got
Thinking the whole time the Captain's toupee
Would make a good galley mop

Spock while all this is happening
Struggles to keep a straight face
Which is really hard for a Vulcan to do
When dealing with a demanding toupee

Of course like James T. Kirk
His toupee has a thing for alien gals
Which leaves the ladies throughout the galaxy
All with a bad taste and hair in their mouths

And not to mention the trouble with the Klingon's
Now they have no idea what to say
How in the world do you wage war
When your arch enemy is a bad toupee

It's little surprise this all lead to a mutiny
Of the Starship Enterprise crew
The day they grabbed the toupee
And ran to the transporter room

They all wondered what took them so long
The idea it was so blatantly simple
As they beamed away Kirk's toupee
Down to the surface of the Planet of Tribble's

She's the rhythm to the reason
The good idea that bites
The joy in every season
The will inside the might

The punctuation mark that takes the heart
And won't leave it alone
She is every poem that I have ever known

She's the newness to the beginning
The turned up edge of every grin
The sound that's in the laughter
Springs fragrance on the wind

The kindness that helps to bind us
Heart to heart and soul to soul
She is every poem that I have ever known

She's the hope that's found in happiness
The footnote at the end
The idea that can't get by on less
The ear that's here to lend

The inkling in the keeping
That drives it all back home
She is every poem that I have ever known

It all started off innocent enough
To take a slight edge off the pain
Some days seem worse than others
So you take a few more I'm afraid

Before too long the battle is gone
You don't dare go back to the doctor
So you take to the streets to meet demanding needs
With no option of over the counter

As all addictions do they stop working for you
And eventually bite like an ungrateful dog
The only reason you know is your friends tell you so
In your shipwreck of a drug laden fog

You try and think back on the life you once had
Before you first swallowed this hell
But with a mind that's not clear to point you anywhere
Your past is too far back to tell

You pray for normalcy but never down on your knees
Afraid that you might get what you wish
Not sure you could let go the only comfort you know
In this cruel world of hit and miss

Still if you could go back you'd jump at the chance
To not have given your soul away
In the form of a pill that doesn't care what it steals
Leaving behind death in its wake

Welcome to the School of Gossip
Where you'll learn to ruin lives
Passing around what little you know
Not caring if it's lies

We'll teach you the art of digging deeper
How to squeeze out all the latest info
Given to you by third parties
Adding what you wish as you go

Learn to draw the listener in
Starting  conversations with
"Did you hear about" is a favorite
Or "You're  not going to believe this"

There's an advanced course in "When you make someone cry"
Playing the part of an innocent friend
Having a listening ear and a shoulder nearby
Getting juicy tid bits and adding your spin

We have the highest graduation rate
Of any school in town
Make something up about us, tell all your friends
Just make sure you pass it around

just beneath the surface
i have all these knots
some are tied with purpose
others only passing thoughts

both can be a burden
twisted ends all frayed
just beneath the surface
where these knots get in the way

there is no need
to read this poem
it doesn't have
a lot going on

in no way does it
dive in deep
or keep you on
the edge of your seat

nor lends itself to
a sultry tune
where it speaks of
life's doom and gloom

this poem will not
start a blaze
with anything
it has to say

it's not here
to make you think
you'll forget it all
by the time you leave

this poem you really
need not read
because this poem
doesn't say anything

Often people ask me
What it is I do
Poet of the times
Purveyor of the truth

Peeling back the onion skin
Carving at the rhyme
Pouring drinks of imagery
Squeezing out the line

Taking out the sickle
Knocking down the weeds
Till I uncover the beauty of
Hidden treasures underneath

Often people ask me
What it is I see
In the ink of illusion
Known as poetry

I say the line of work I'm in
Suits this poet fine
Where so often I catch myself
Working overtime

One day my feet
Said follow me
You do the walking
I'll do the lead
We'll make our way
Cross country
From point A
To point B

So I took my shoes
And tied them tight
As my feet moved
From left to right
On our way to be
Cross countryfied
In for the time
Of our lives

We moved along the coast
Up and down
Weaved as we sowed
In and out
From city to city
Town to town
The best of the West
North, East, and South

Met all kinds of people
Color, creed
They look like you
They act like me
We're all the same
I do believe
All across
This great country

From East to West
North and South
City to city
Town to town
Along the coast
Up and down
Weaved as we sowed
In and out

After all this
At their bequest
I took my feet
In my hands
And roamed back home
To give them a rest
Can't wait to see
What they say next